Marijuana grower to put down roots in Jackson County

One of Arkansas' five marijuana cultivation businesses announced Friday that it will be located in Jackson County. The decision reversed an earlier announcement that the business would be located in Jefferson County.(Photo: Getty Images)

Natural State Wellness Enterprises, one of five businesses last month to be awarded state licenses to operate a marijuana cultivation facility, will now operate out of Jackson County, the company announced Friday.

That decision reverses a previous announcement that the company would locate in Jefferson County.

Natural State Wellness had faced a choice in operating a cultivation facility in either Jefferson County or Jackson County when it was awarded a cultivation license on Feb. 27 by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission.

The commission scored 95 applications and had awarded cultivation permits to Natural State Medicinals, Bold Team LLC, Osage Creek Cultivation, Delta Medical Cannabis Company and Natural State Wellness, whose applications for marijuana farms in Jefferson County and Jackson County had received tying scores.

State law allows businesses to own a single cultivation facility, forcing Natural State Wellness to pick where it wanted to set up its operations.

Early last week, Natural State Wellness had publicly announced that its marijuana cultivation facility would be located just outside Pine Bluff in Jefferson County. However, the company, which includes former Attorney General Dustin McDaniel as an investor and attorney, said it decided to build its facility in Jackson County on Friday.

“Leaders of both counties want the investment and jobs that will come with this facility,” McDaniel said in a statement. “Until Wednesday, we fully believed that we would locate in Jefferson County.”

Natural State Wellness’ most recent decision would give Jackson County two of the state’s five marijuana cultivation facilities. Delta Medical Cannabis, Jackson County’s second marijuana grower, plans to open its facility in Newport.

Natural State Medicinals will be located in rural Jefferson County, about halfway between Redfield and White Hall. Bold Team LLC plans to open a cultivation facility in Woodruff County’s Cotton Plant, and Osage Creek Cultivation plans to grow marijuana in Carroll County’s Berryville.

The Department of Finance and Administration said Friday that the five would-be marijuana businesses had each paid the $100,000 permit fee and posted the $500,000 performance bond required to be licensed by the state.

The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission is expected to formally issue the licenses when they meet Wednesday in Little Rock. After that, its next step will be to review the 227 pending applications for marijuana dispensaries and announce which 32 businesses will be awarded those permits. That announcement is expected in late spring or early summer.

The only cultivation facility application in the Twin Lakes Area came from rural Izard County’s Plant Family Medical Ventures LLC, which was not awarded a license.

The Marijuana Commission will meet again in on March 14 to officially certify the state’s five cultivation facilities. After that, its next step will be to review the 227 pending applications for marijuana dispensaries and announce which 32 businesses will be awarded those permits. That announcement is expected in late spring or early summer.

Dispensary applications will be graded on a 100-point scale, with the dispensaries being distributed evenly across eight geographical regions.

Zone 2 includes Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Fulton, Izard, Marion, Newton, Searcy, Stone and Van Buren counties. The commission received a total of 18 dispensary applications for the 10-county zone, with Newton County being the only county to not have a dispensary application.

Marijuana business applications for the Twin Lakes Area include dispensary applications for Greener Findings LLC and Plant Family Therapeutics LLC, both in Mountain Home; River Valley Releaf in Flippin; 23 LLC and New Leaf Cannabis Company LLC, both in Harrison; Piney Creek Mercantile, LLC in Melbourne; Alternative Care of Arkansas in Ash Flat; and Arkansas Green Cross Cannabis Dispensary LLC in Salem.

In Arkansas, qualifying patients will be able to buy up to 2.5 ounces of usable medical marijuana every two weeks. The Arkansas Department of Health has approved 4,116 applications for marijuana registry cards, and another 244 applications are pending. The cards, which will be required to purchase medical marijuana, will be issued a month before dispensaries open.